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Fundamental constants

The teamwork of precision

Nature volume 506, pages 440–441 (2014)Cite this article

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A new value for the atomic mass of the electron is a link in a chain of measurements that will enable a test of the standard model of particle physics with better than part-per-trillion precision. See Letter p.467

One of the most amazing triumphs of modern physics is the agreement, at nearly the part-per-trillion level, between theory1 and an experiment2, which uses a single electron confined by electric and magnetic fields in a device called a Penning trap, for the magnetic moment of the electron. Assuming the correctness of the theoretical calculations and experimental measurements, any difference between the two could indicate physics beyond the standard model of particle physics3. Because the theoretical prediction requires as input an independent value for the fundamental physical constant known as the fine-structure constant, and one method for obtaining the fine-structure constant requires a value for the atomic mass of the electron (the ratio of the mass of the electron to the mass of an atom of carbon-12), the atomic mass of the electron is an essential ingredient in the above comparison. For this reason, a new measurement of the atomic mass of the electron, which has an uncertainty reduced by a factor of 13 compared with previous results4, as reported by Sturm et al.5 on page 467 of this issue, could have an impact on fundamental physics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edmund G. Myers is in the Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4350, USA.,

    Edmund G. Myers

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  1. Edmund G. Myers
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Correspondence to Edmund G. Myers.

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Myers, E. The teamwork of precision. Nature 506, 440–441 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13059

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